Go.Fish Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 (edited) First post here! Trying to build a melting pot for Lead, possibly even Copper. Originally tried a regular camping stove but wasn’t hot enough. Came up with an idea of using a cross section of a DPF filter that was taken out of my Jeep diesel. Instead of taking the time to build a refractory type burner Started out fantastic for the first minute. Then the xxxx filter started doing what it was designed to do, heat up and burn fuel! If I could position the element closer to the bottom of the melting pot it might be better but I need the clearance to be able to pour the lead. Thinking I may need to drill a handful of holes in the Ceramic now to get flames to shoot out and hit the bottom of the pot. Thoughts? Problem I see is it may still do the same thing, shoot flames and heat up the ceramic at the same time Edited October 2, 2020 by Mod30 Language Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 Is your crucible insulated? Is your furnace insulated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 You're working way too hard at doing something simple. Look into turkey burners, and you will be heading in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 The ceramic perf plate is doing EXACTLY WHAT IT'S DESIGNED TO. They burn unburned fuel in the exhaust by first burning it on the perf plate and secondly by heating it well above ignition temp. Melting a fairly large quantity (15lbs. +/-) of lead can be done on a couple handsfull of charcoal briquettes. Done that many times. Copper wants more temp so you can add a burner to the melter or forced to the charcoal. Lindsay Press has plans in several of their publications for charcoal melters. What you've built is basically a radiant heater, and not suitable for a melter. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go.Fish Posted October 2, 2020 Author Share Posted October 2, 2020 Crucible is about 10” of 6” Sched 80 pipe and not insulated. There’s no furnace really just trying to heat from below. I may have started with a turkey burner. It’s an outdoor 60,000 BTU water boiler piece of junk that didn’t do anything. Perhaps one with higher BTUs? I’m not working very hard, just having fun building stuff and learning from mistakes Guess I now have a working radiant heater to use for something else. Wondering though if I drill holes in the ceramic will it shoot flame to hit the bottom of the pot? I haven’t done the math but assume it will hold about 60lbs of lead. Just trying to heat it as fast as possible using propane and having the ability to pour in place without lifting the melting pot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 Furnaces work with a heat balance: heat in vs heat out. Looks like yours has a lot of ways for heat to get out without pushing the heat into the crucible. What are you casting with 60 pounds of lead? My grandfather owned a bait stand and spent every winter in the back room using an old 2 burner gas ring and natural gas to cast tons of lead sinkers. (BTW for folks worried about his health; he does have a number of health issues now and we finally got him to stop driving around 92 years old. He's 97 now.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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